Hopman Cup Day 3: USA d. Czech Republic

I finally got to watch some Hopman Cup action for myself early this morning via a tape-delayed broadcast on Russian WebTV.

Yes, Serena Williams outlasted Lucie Safarova, yes the US got a virtual walkover when Tomas Berdych had to retire due to illness, but would you have guessed that Serena looked physically better than she did back in 2002-2003?

You might think I'm exagerrating, but Tennis Channel aired the 2003 Australian Open final between her and Venus Williams so Serena's look back then was fresh in my mind when, a few hours later, my eyes almost popped out of my head when she showed up on court to play Lucie.

I'm not sure the pictures do what I saw on camera any justice, but if you take her warning to Justine Henin in this article seriously, and if you take Martina Navratilova's closeup sighting seriously, then the article's title of "Trim, taut, terrific: Serena shapes up" is on point.